BETHANY, Okla.—Southern Nazarene got back to their winning ways with a 66-57 win over No. 16 Lubbock Christian inside the Sawyer Center on Saturday afternoon.
The Crimson Storm (2-1, 0-0 GAC) were coming off a tough upset loss to Sioux Falls one week ago, but they looked to make a statement on Saturday. They jumped all over Lubbock Christian (1-2, 0-0 LSC) in the first half as the Storm opened the game on a 21-3 run. The lead grew as high as 25 points in the first half before SNU settled for a 37-14 halftime advantage. The Storm knocked down eight shots from deep in that first half.
Early in the second half, it appeared to be more of the same for Southern Nazarene. They extended their lead to 31 points, but all of a sudden the game started to tighten over the final 10 minutes. Turnovers became a problem the latter half of the game. SNU turned it over 14 times in the second half as they struggled to break Lubbock Christian's tough full-court press. The Chaps outscored SNU 31-9 over the final nine and a half minutes of the game. Luckily for the Storm, they had built enough of a lead that LCU eventually ran out of time.
SNU was great from the field all game, but struggled from the charity stripe. They shot 53.7% from the field, including 52.2% from deep, but they hit just 10-of-17 (58.8%) at the foul line.
After incredible defense in the first half that limited the Chaps to just 14 points on 25% shooting from the field, SNU's defense faltered a bit in the second half as they allowed 43 points on 58% shooting.
Adokiye Iyaye scored a game-high 17 points, knocking down 3 shots from behind the arc. He also swiped a pair of steals.
Javon Jackson and Tyler McGhie were not far behind. They each added 16 points. McGhie shot 4-of-6 from deep, while Jackson was 3-of-6 from the outside.
Nick Davis was just short of a double-double. He hauled in 12 rebounds to go along with his 8 points in the contest.
Xavier Bryant was big in a variety of ways on Saturday. He hauled in 6 rebounds while also dishing out 5 assists.
SNU will hope to build on this game by recognizing the successes of the first half and learning from the second half. They hit the road next week to take on Dallas Baptist, who they defeated 71-67 in Bethany last season. The Patriots are just 1-3 to begin the season. Tipoff is set for Wednesday afternoon at 3:00 p.m. in Dallas. The Storm will return home on November 30th for their first GAC contest with Southeastern Oklahoma State at 7:30 p.m.
